Hurry Home
by thorny21
Summary: Ino takes off to Suna. Inoichi is very distraught and records a message to his answering machine. Shikamaru leaves to find her. Will he be able to find her and bring her home?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I heard this song on the radio and it just caught my attention as a good Ino Inoichi fic. I wasn't going to write it but it drove me nuts. So here it is. Enjoy!!**

Ino said nothing as she grabbed her suitcase and walked out the door. She turned around and took one last look at her home before continuing down the dirt road. Her father Inoichi came home only to find her gone. A few days later Ino still had not come home. Inoichi had been sitting by the phone since she left. He looked at the clock and saw that it was time for work and he couldn't be late. He walked into his room and brought out his guitar. He sat down by the answering maching and began to play a few bars on the machine. He started to softly sing:

_"__It doesn't matter what you've done I still love you  
It doesn't matter where you've been you can still come home  
And honey if it's you we've got a lot of making up to do  
And I can't hug you on the phone, so hurry home." _**(1)**

When he was done recording, he stood up and returned his guitar to his room. He heard a knock on his door. When he went to answer it, Shikamaru was waiting for him. Inoichi motioned for him to come in.

"Hey Inoichi. Have you heard anything yet?" he asked. Inoichi shook his head sadly.

"Nope, nothing yet." he said. Shikamaru put his arm around Inoichi gently.

"I'm going to go find her." he stated. Inoichi looked into Shikamaru's eyes.

"Please bring her home." he said. Shikamaru nodded before turning around and running out the door. He jumped into his car and pulled down a picture of him and Ino together. He looked at it for a while before he took off in search of his girlfriend. Inoichi watched him leave before shaking his head. He went back into the house and gathered his things for work. When he was finished he walked out, jumped into his truck and took off for work.

Shikamaru went to the village of Suna. He knew that was where Ino and her friends, Sakura and Tenten, were going. He drove all day around the village. He stopped at a pawn shop and went in. An older man with a cloth over the left side of his face was standing behind the counter.

"Hello, I'm Baki. Can I help you?" he asked. Shikamaru walked up to him.

"I'm looking for this girl. Have you seen her?" he asked pulling out the picture to show him. Baki took the picture and studied it. After a few moments, he shook his head and handed it back.

"I'm sorry. No I haven't seen her." he said. Shikamaru put the picture back into his vest pocket, thanked the man and left the shop. He walked down the street, stopping when he met someone to show the picture and ask if anyone had seen Ino. They all told him the same thing: they haven't seen her. He continued on his way to the other shops to keep seaching for her.

Meanwhile, Inoichi came home from work, only to see the light on his answering machine blinking. He hurried towards it thinking it might be Ino calling. He pressed play and waited. The voice on the machine was not his daughter, but an old friend of his, Choza.

"I'm calling cause I just heard the news about Ino. Man, I hope you find her. If I see her I'll remind her that you are worried about her. Keep in touch, okay?" The message ended and Inoichi sank into his chair.

"It wasn't her." he said placing his head in his hands.

Back in Suna, Shikamaru was still searching for Ino. He walked into a specialty dress shop and walked up to an elderly woman with light purple hair.

"Welcome to my shop. I'm Chiyo. Can I help you find something?" she asked. Shikamaru pulled the picture back out of his pocket and showed it to the woman.

"I was hoping you could tell me if you have seen this girl?" Shikamaru said. Chiyo took the picture from him and looked at it. She handed it back to him with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry young man. I haven't seen her anywhere. Such a pretty thing too." she said.

"Thank you for your help." Shikamaru said. Chiyo gave him back the picture. He placed it back in his vest and began to walk out. At the sound of the old lady's voice he turned around.

"Young man? I wish you luck on your search." Chiyo said. Shikamaru smiled and nodded before leaving her shop. He drove around some more and walked the streets. He came upon another pawn shop so he went in. There was a blonde woman with her hair up in four pigtails behind the counter waiting on a woman with short brown hair. He walked up to them.

"Excuse me, but have either of you seen this girl?" he asked showing them the photo. They looked at it before shaking their heads.

"Sorry, I haven't seen anyone that looks like her around. Have you, Matsuri?" the blonde asked. Matsuri looked at the photo again before looking at Shikamaru.

"I haven't seen her either, Temari. Sorry." she said. Shikamaru sighed in defeat but thanked the women before leaving. He kept searching for days, occasionally checking in with Inoichi. There still had been no word from her. It began to look like Ino might not be coming back since he could not find her anywhere. He almost gave up as it began to rain .

Back in Konoha, Inoichi was sitting in his chair staring at a photo of Ino. He heard a knock on the door and then footsteps coming down the hall towards him. It was his friend Shikaku.

"Still no word huh?" Shikaku asked as soon as he saw Inoichi.

"Nothing." Inoichi replied.

"Don't you think it's time to take that old message off? I mean, Shikamaru hasn't been home since he went to look for her." Shikaku said. Inoichi shook his head.

"No, you never know when she might call." he said. Shikaku stared at his friend sadly. He knew Ino might never be found, but kept his comments to himself so as not to upset him.

"Come on then. We need to get to work." he stated. Inoichi stood up and placed the photo back on the table by the phone. He grabbed his coat and left.

Ino was outside a bar near a phone in Suna. It was dark and it had begun to rain. She was by herself since her so called friends had left her all alone. She picked up the phone but did not dial.

"What if daddy doesn't want me back?" she asked herself. "Guess I'll never know unless I try." She dialed the only number she knew, hoping her daddy hadn't changed it. Just as the phone began to ring, she heard someone pull up. Shikamaru looked relieved when he found her. He walked towards her while she listened to the message on the answering machine. She heard her father's voice as he began to sing:

_"It doesn't matter what you've done I still love you  
It doesn't matter where you've been you can still come home  
And honey if it's you we've got a lot of making up to do  
And I can't hug you on the phone so hurry home."_

Inoichi walked in just in time to hear Ino's voice. Crying, he heard her say, "Dad, I'm on my way." Inoichi sank to the floor and began to sob. His friends came in behind him.

"Inoichi what's wrong?" Shikaku asked. Kakashi and Iruka looked on waiting for a reply.

"He found her. Ino is coming home." Inoichi replied. Shikaku dropped to his knees and pulled his friend into a hug.

"Thank Kami!" he cried. They all stayed by Inoichi's side while he waited for Ino and Shikamaru. The next day, Shikamaru pullled into the driveway. Shikaku gently shook Inoichi awake.

"Inoichi look." he said pointing out the window. Inoichi stood up and looked. He watched as blonde hair emerged from the passenger seat of the car. He ran out the door and down the steps. He stopped and waited. Ino looked up as she shut the door and saw her father waiting. She nervously took a few steps forward.

"Daddy?" she asked cautiously. Inoichi stepped towards her and opened his arms wide. A sob tore from Ino's throat and she took off running into her father's arms.

"DADDY!" she cried. Inoichi wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

"Shh..It's okay, Ino. You're home." he said. She pulled away and looked into his eyes.

"I'm sorry daddy. I shouldn't have left." she said. Inoichi wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Come on. Let's go in. You coming, Shikamaru?" he asked. Shikamaru smiled and nodded. He walked up to Ino and put his arm around her waist as well. Arm in arm, the trio walked into the house and shut the door.

**A/N: (1) The song is called Hurry Home by Jason Michael Carroll. I tried to keep the story in line with the song. It's very pretty so check it out. I would really appreciate some reviews. It would be nice to know if you all enjoyed this story or not. Thanks!!!!**


	2. Author's Note

**A/N:**

**I am so very glad that everyone seems to like this story. It would really make my day if you would leave a review and let me know what you think. I have also recently posted a fic my sister in law Bloodytears87 and I worked on together called Chaos Twins. I'd appreciate any comments you have on that one as well. I have not received but one review on this one. I am very disappointed. I may just take all my stories down and discontinue In My Mind. So please even if its just a small one, please leave a review to let me know how I am doing. **

**Arigatou!**

**Ja ne!**

**Thorny21**


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